The Roadside Inn
by Thoughts of wind
Summary: Abenthy has long since left the Edema Ruh troop. But he often thinks of them, and one in particular, Kvothe. After 6 years of not hearing neither wind nor hair of him, he hears a story at the Roadside inn that leaves him with more question than answers.
1. What Ben heard that day

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever (no matter how many stars, 11:11's, or four leaf clovers I wish on), own thee characters. Pat Rothfuss does. Lucky him...

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><p>Ben whistled as he prepared for a long day at the inn. Ever since the roads had become safer once again, his inn had become busier than ever. He started by wiping down the counters and warming up the stove. It was startling how quickly he had fallen into this lifestyle. Ben had always thought of himself as a traveler. He was not meant to stay in one place, though after meeting Lyra, who was now his wife, he had changed dramatically. 5 years ago, if they someone had told him he would be married and settled down by now, he would have questioned their sanity. But now here he was, entirely domesticated.<p>

After he had left the Ruh, Lyra and him had been swept up in a whirlwind romance and were married by the spring. Ben took over the business, and soon their little brewery was one of the most prosperous inns around. He was content with his life, but he often reminisced about the days when he used to travel the world. He missed it, the sense of adventure, the feeling of danger chasing at your heels and the thrill of not knowing where you'll be sleeping at night. Sure the loneliness was hard to bear on some days, but more than often, there was a straggled traveler or a traders group to share the roads with. And after he joined with the Edema Ruh troop, well, his life had been a constant source of amusement.

He often thought fondly of Kvothe, the little E'lir, and compared him with his son, Kevon. Kvothe was one of a kind, he was sure of it. He would grow up to be someone great one day. Though it had been 6 years since they last saw each other, he never ceased to wonder what had happened to the boy. It was like a constant nagging he had at the back of his mind, always wondering. Every time a troop came around, he would hope against hope that it would be his. But it never was. He often entertained the idea of Kvothe making it to the University. How would he do there? He was like a bright, unpolished diamond amidst a bed of coals. Though standing out quite dramatically, there is still quite a lot of work left to do until he was ready to shine.

The faint sent of something burning wafted towards him from the ovens. The pies! The pies they had left over from the night before had been left in the oven, and he had forgotten to take them out before warming up the ovens! His musings forgotten as the duties of innkeeper clouded his mind, his thoughts were left unfinished and his questions were left unanswered, as they always seemed to be with anything concerning Kvothe.

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><p>Kevon ran up the road, towards the Inn with his friends were hot on his heels. After a long day of helping out on the fields, they were all looking forward to a cool cup of apple cider that Ben always makes for them on days like these. He seemed to know what they needed, whether it was a word of advice or something to drink. Kevon could barely remember a time before Ben. Ben was his father, in every sense of the word except that he was not his blood. But that didn't matter a lot to them, what mattered was that Ben was the one he ran to when others made fun of him, the one he asked for help on his homework, and when he felt lonely? Ben was there. Ben had always been someone he could trust and Kevon didn't want that to change. Ever.<p>

As they burst through the doors of the inn, Kevon saw that look on Ben's face again. Before, he used to see that pondering, thoughtful look on Ben's face almost every day, but as the years passed, Ben wore that look less and less. Yet whenever Ben was alone or when Kevon asked Ben a question about his past, that look would re-emerge. Kevon had his theories, of course he did. But he was scared to ask Ben. He was scared that whatever made Ben smile ever so softly like that would also take him away from Kevon. And he didn't want to lose Ben. So he kept his mouth shut, and pushed the questions to the back of his mind.

Kevon paused by the door. Should he interrupt Ben's thoughts? But it was already too late. Ben had seen them.

"Hey kids! I have some freshly made cool apple cider ready!" all the kids crowded towards the bar, dropping a copper penny onto the table as they collected their drinks. Kevon hung back and waited for all the kids to move away. The inn wasn't as busy as usual, so he hoped that Ben could teach him some stuff.

"…Until this point, barter was the most common method of trade. Some larger cities coined their own currency, but outside those cities the money was only worth the weight of the metal. Bars of metal were better for bartering, but full bars were inconvenient to carry." As Ben rambled on about the history of currency, Kevon tried his best to look awake. But after another 10 minutes, his eyelids began to droop and his head started the slow process of falling forwards.

"Hey! Am I interrupting you?" Kevon jerked up, now wide awake. Ben was scary when he was mad. Kevon peered at Ben. Ben was smiling. Kevon released a sigh of relief.

"No, it's just, you went over this weeks ago, can we please learn something new?" Ben smiled and was about to reply when that _look_ appeared on his face again.

Though he had never before asked Ben what he was thinking about when he seemed lost in his thoughts, he was insanely curious. This time, he couldn't hold back. The words burst through his mouth before he could stop them.

"What were you thinking about Ben?"

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><p><em>"What were you thinking about Ben?"<em> Ben looked up at Kevon, the shock visible in his eyes. Was he that obvious when he got lost in his memories? Ben started to panic. What would he say? That he missed freedom? That he missed travelling with the troop? That he was reminded of Kvothe by that simple statement? In the end, he went with the latter

"Nothing. You just reminded me of a student I used to teach"

Kevon looked down, shrugged and continued to bug him to move faster with the lesson. For some reason, Ben was slightly disappointed that Kevon had dropped the question so quickly. He would have made Kevon laugh for hours with anecdotes about his times with the troop. Like that time when they were doing a play for the city of Tebant, Trip accidentally mixed up the makeup containers and everyone had to act with a blue face. He chuckled at the memory.

Kevon turned to look at him weirdly. But sighed and went back to his work a moment later. Clearly he was used to the oddities that Ben sometimes displayed.

Later that night, as Ben was managing the bar, he heard a name, a name he hadn't heard in a long time from a snippet of conversation from Old Miller, the local gossip. He was telling a story to the others.

"And so Kvothe ran, chasing the beautiful Felurian in to the forest …"


	2. Legend of Kvothe

A/N: Sorry I was so late uploading, i had most of it finished, but school was busy and never got around to finishing it till now. And yeah, sorry for ending on a cliffy again... I seem to do that a lot. And, Thanks for the reviews!

Disclaimer: See chapter 1. Not even with the power of Tablorin could I own these characters.

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><p>And so Kvothe ran, chasing the beautiful Felurian in to the forest.<p>

His feet pounded on the forest ground, racing to catch up with her. He heard distant shouts behind him, but all he could think about was _her_. Her beauty and grace, her voice, her image, everything. And on he ran, fueled by pure will as he raced through the uninhabited forest. Though running as fast as he could, she always managed to stay ahead of him. As soon as he drew close, she would dance away, laughing, and watching him struggle with those bright eyes. He staggered, tripping over a branch. For a second, he was tempted to just stop, but the he heard her laugh again, and he was blinded by need.

The branches of nearby trees grabbed at his cloak, tearing at it and pulling him back, as if in warning. But Kvothe just ran on, intent on his prize. His cloak tore from his back just as he neared the boarder of the Fae and human world, catching sight of Felurian just before she danced into the shadows once again. Kvothe burst forward and gasped, finally managing to grasp her around the waist, pulling her to the ground. And there he took her, shedding his clothes so fast in heated desire. And it was perfect, it was wonderful and everything she had promised it would be. As he sank into her, he shuddered with desire and all other thought fled from his mind as he let himself go to animalistic need.

When Kvothe woke up, his muscles ached. Shifted into a more comfortable position and froze as he felt a warm hand rest on his chest. His _bare_ chest. Then the last night came rushing back to him. He groaned as he tried to relax him muscles. He now knew why so many spoke in whispered hushes about Felurian's skills. It would have killed a weaker man. He looked around. His clothes had been reduced to a pile of rags and his cloak was nowhere to be found. Though luckily, the pack with the Maer's chest was still present.

Just then, he felt movement at his side. He turned to look and soon sank deep into the depths of Felurian's eyes. He felt the burning passion build again but shook his head, banishing it to a dull glow instead. He had more important things to worry about at the moment. He let his mind go over all the past Felurian tales he had heard of. The men always found her naked, singing in the woods, they would always followed her into the shadows, and once she got bored of them she would let them go, and they would either die in the wild or be driven crazy by want of her. No one had ever survived. He shuddered. He would not go mad. He would not die. He still had—

He felt movement by his side. Turning his head, he saw her wide, doe-like eyes staring at him. She smiled at him and sat up, motioning towards a nearby rock, laden with food.

"Let us eat" she said. Kvothe sat down and surveyed the food; some of it was what he recognized, like the slab of roasted meat that surly must be deer. But there were other foods that he had no idea what they were. A large, round purple fruit was set in front of him. Picking it up, he had no idea what to expect. He glanced over at Felurian and saw her smiling encouragingly. He bit into the odd fruit and instantly, his mouth was flooded with flavor. It was not a flavor of anything; rather, it tasted of everything. It had the sweet sourness of oranges and the smoky flavor of potatoes, it had the soft shell of plums and the crunch inside of apples, and it was everything all at once. One thing for sure, he was no longer in the mortal world.

After he finished, he picked up his lute and began to strum a few chords. Kvothe look up to see that Felurian had gone still, she was staring intently at his lute.

"A musician! I never had a musician before!" She was as excited as a newborn pup, eager to know to more.

So Kvothe played. He played songs that made her laugh in delight and songs that made her weep with pity. He played songs of long lost love and songs of bitter siblings. And as a gift, he played a song for her, one he had written just moments before. It sang of her beauty and it moved her to no ends. She smiled happily at him.

"Name what you desire. my musician and I shall give it of you"

Kvothe knew the one thing he wanted above all else, and that was freedom.

"I would love to be able to walk the mortal world once more"

The Felurian's face turned cold. She glared at him and with command in her tone said "I will not allow you to walk free."

This stirred up great anger in Kvothe. He had powers like none other. Sure she may be of the Fae, but he was skilled in the dark and terrible magic's. He would fight for his freedom.

Mustering up all his courage and strength, he began to ready for battle. He would fight for his freedom, or die trying.

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><p>AN: R&R Please!


	3. The Setting Sun

**A/N: I am sooo sorry I left this unfinished for so long. I really have no excuse but I really hope you can all forgive me. I kinda threw together an ending so it is a bit, err, all over the place. BUT hope you guys like it. No more cliffies this time. Yay for that?**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I play with them in my mind.

Standing up tall, his face turned dark.

"I have defeated dragons and save princesses, I have made blind men see colours and heartless men love. You cannot trap me here"

The Felurian remained impassive. Her blank face gave nothing away but Kvothe was not fooled. He could see the storm darkening her beautiful eyes.

As she stood, she seemed to grow dark. Her limbs elongated and her fingers curved like the talons of an eagle, poised to strike, and kill. Kvothe stood still, warily watching her approach.

"How cute. You are merely a human boy, and you think you can defeat me? I, whose beauty has driven men mad with desire." Her voice had grown from a gentle, but menacing whisper to a loud thundering roar. She continued.

"I, who's passion has worn out the strongest warriors, I, who's magic has beaten even the greatest." Now face to face with Kvothe, he could see the darkness in her eyes and for the first time in a long while, he felt fear.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT ME?" The air around the Felurian whipped around her, creating a tornado charged with her magic. Kvothe, who felt the sheer force of her magic, was rendered motionless for a minute. But then he, who had once conquered death, prepared to give his all.

Summening all the strength he had, he raised his arms and started to chant the long lost words, summoning a great and terrib—

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><p>"UNCLE BEN! THE PIES"<p>

As if pulled out of a stupor, Ben looked around for a moment, trying to grasp his bearings. That's when he smelt the smoke.

Rushing towards the oven, he cursed himself. How had he allowed himself to get so caught up in the story—and that was all it is of course, just a story—that he forgot about the pies. Oh what was he supposed to serve tonight? But he supposed he would think of something.

"Hey everything alright? It's not like you to forget these things." Ben looked up to see his smiling wife. Oh how he loved her.

"Well, I was a bit distracted by Old Miller's story." Ben mumbled sheepishly. He wasn't lying to her, just, not telling her everything. There were parts of his past that were off limits, no matter how much he loved her.

"The one about Kvothe and the Felurian? That's the first he's talked of it, there were a few Kvothe ones before." Ben's interest piqued up. How had Kvothe's name become entangle in these legends and myths?

"Really? What were they about?" Ben couldn't help but wonder. It had been too long since he had last seen of the boy, but he would always have a place in his heart for the bright child.

"Oh, you know how the legends are. Always about the hero slaying a dragon or saving a helpless maiden. What's got you so interested in this one? The Ben I know would just shake his head and chuckle." Ben froze. He knew that Lyra meant it jokingly, but he couldn't help but feel guilty. Here he was, hiding such a big secret from her. But really, what should he be hiding? That he once taught a student? That was no mystery, she knew he had an apprentice when he traveled with the Ruh. But he was afraid to admit to himself the real reason why. That he was scared. He was scared that he had caused Kvothe to embark on a path of self destruction.

"Well fine, don't tell me. You've been up too late these days, just go get a good rest tonight. I still expect you to get up early and start the ovens tomorrow!" Lyra started to shoo Ben out of the kitchen, slapping his hand when he went to grab a hot roll.

Ben laughed and shook his head as he headed up the stairs, waving good night to a few of the regulars at the dining hall. His wife sure was a feisty one, he thought to himself. He really was lucky to have her.

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><p>As he settled into bed, his thoughts drifted back to the story he had heard by the bar. What had Kvothe gotten himself into? He had always known that Kvothe would make a name for himself, he was the brightest mind Ben had ever met, but he worried for the boy. Once someone reached that level of fame, it would get to their head. Ben closed his eyes and on the lowering sun, prayed that the gods would look after Kvothe, and that he would be alright.<p>

A/N- Really, thanks for sticking with this even though I am a pain for uploading. R&R if you enjoyed this!


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